Get Learnt 19

We're all pretty aware of how evolution works and the way organisms change over the course of time. But today, I want to go back to the beginning where it all started.

More specifically, where LIFE started

Life had to start somewhere, but how did it get there in the first place?

You see, science has been able to uncover our evolutionary process and even provide explanations for how life evolved from the first organisms.
But so far, we've yet to determine the exact way life began on Earth.

So naturally, this leads to questions like:

Could life have come from another planet?

Were we put here on purpose?

Can Ant-Man actually kill Thanos by expanding inside his asshole?

Well, based on the evidence we have, scientists have a theory that appears to be a step in the right direction.

So let's take a look at WHAT we came from, and HOW we got there in the first place

Ready to Get Learnt?

Let's begin with the most important organism

Cyanobacteria: Nature's thesis statement.

Cyanobacteria holds the record for the oldest fossils found at 3.5 BILLION years old. This makes them only 300 million years younger than the oldest rocks we've found

THE. OLDEST. ROCKS.

Around 4 Billion years ago, the Earth was completing its formation and starting to cool off during the Archean Eon. During this time, as the atmosphere continued to form, water began condensing forming the oceans and lakes.

The perfect place for Cyanobacteria to sperg out

Commonly known as blue-green algae, it's not actually algae even though it sure fucking looks like it

This single-celled bacteria comes in various forms, such as Plankton, and can be found in water where it feeds using photosynthesis. What makes Cyanobacteria special, however, is that unlike all other single-celled organisms that feed this way, it is the only one that produces oxygen.

And THIS was the key to life

As the bacterium grew over time, the nitrogen in the air was put under control and oxygen began filling the atmosphere. It's considered that this lead to the Great Oxygenation Event over a billion years later, when other forms of life were able to begin developing due to the high levels of oxygen present.

But Cyanobacteria's role in the development of life doesn't end there, it also gave rise to the multi-cellular plants we know today. During the Great Oxygenation Event at the beginning of the Proterozoic Era, single-celled organisms began working together to benefit from each other in early plant cell models.

But what finally completed the model was the addition of Cyanobacteria and its ability to photosynthesize.

Known as chloroplasts, they became a key component to the evolution of plant life by allowing plants to create their own food.

So Cyanobacteria has some pretty good reasons for being the most important organism to ever exist, most of which stem from the fact that, well, it was FIRST.

But just because it's the oldest LIFE

Doesn't mean it's the oldest EVIDENCE of it.

The earliest physical evidence for life are microbe fossils that date back as far as 4.2 Billion years ago. This would put life's beginnings right around the same time oceans and lakes began forming instead of shortly after.

Also, this would put the start of life only 300 Million years after the Earth was FORMED

What's interesting about these microbe fossils are their resemblance to microbes found around hydrothermal vents today.

Hydrothermal vents are fissures from within the Earth that spew heated water and chemicals. In nature, ecosystems surrounding these vents are extremely productive and complex.

So it's assumed that life originated from the spew of boiling Earth farts

But HOW would that happen, exactly?

Well, here's the theory:

As the Earth was still cooling, amino acids from within the crust were ejected through these vents where they joined with minerals to form protocells, spherical collections of lipids that self-organize. Research has shown that the surfaces of mineral particles inside hydrothermal vents have similar catalytic properties to enzymes and are able to create simple organic molecules.

The environments around these vents are highly suitable for chemical evolution processes to occur, and so as organic molecules came out of the vent, they began to interact and form the bonds that would lead to the formation of the first cells.

So based on all the current information we have, this is the best theory we've concocted as to how life developed on Earth. Of course there's a lot more to it than just what's been said here, but I think this sums up the general idea fairly well.

However, I'd like to offer a little food for thought with something I found somewhat interesting

We determined the oldest life to exist on Earth was Cyanobacteria 3.5 Billion years ago.

And we found that the earliest SIGNS of life were microbes around 4.2 Billion years ago during the start of the oceans, right?

Well during this time the Earth was in the Hadean Eon, the formation period of the Earth lasting from 4.6 Billion to 4 Billion years ago. It was around the end of this time when the planet is said to have been hit numerous times by asteroids and other debris that came from deep space.

If this is true, then this Late Heavy Bombardment period, or LHB as it's known, would have occurred around the same time life is thought to have been starting to take form.

Is it possible an asteroid brought along the catalyst for life?

Or did we just happen into existence because the right compounds mixed?

Maybe one day we'll know for sure, but until then, I'll be waiting on my refund for this life I never asked for.

Skidoosh

Hope you found this interesting!

If you have any suggestions for a future topic, just hit me up
I'm always taking suggestions!

This one's a little shorter than usual, please forgive my insolence

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